chapter 1
A big sky. The grassy hills rolling up onto the big rocky mountains, and the moon, chasing the sun down over the crowsnest peak. The winding driveway leading down into the valley, across the old train bridge, and up into the yard, Of the first, and second, fishburn ranch. This yard, ya the one that holds these precious memories. Ya the one that makes me cry every time I think about it. The page wire fence circles the homestead, which includes the white barn, where we have all our cowboying gear, saddles etc. the red hip roof barn is joined to the back of the tack room.
many memorable moments have happened on fishburn ranch. from parties to brandings to sad times to happy times. & below, i will try to portray this life into words.
to tell you a little about the present. a romantic christmas eve. i am laying in the hammock, in the living room, i am 18 & just finished a emotional conversation of reminiscing about all our memories as kids. there was a few of us crying. it hurts. the fact that we are all grown up hurts. so then & there i decided i would try to write a book. not a professional book. just a book so i can look back & see the images of us growing up. to be able to refresh all the happy times that happened.
first things first. let's introduce the family.
Galen Ray. The husband, & the daddy. the kindest most loving & gentle daddy you could ask for. His actions are always soft. Definitely the type of buckaroo all the little boys want to be like. He is the owner, boss, manager, of fishburn. Under fishburn, He also manages Tompkins, Fischer, and Bonerts.
Gwenyth June. The homemaker. A woman with skill & a heart bigger then the skies. She is a mom of four, & i think she did a good job on us.
Casey Jim. The eldest son. The biggest help. He married Jaclyn Sue & she is very loved on this ranch.
Regan Jon. Second eldest. He helps on the ranch when he has time & otherwise owns a wood mill. He brought the beautiful girl, caitlin brooke, onto the ranch & they are happy & expecting a baby.
Jenna charlotte. Third child. A girl of adventure. Designed to make others happy & always there to help. She married Joel Riley & they now live happily in colerado.
Jessi Shianne. Yes that is my name. & of course idk what to say about my self. i work here on the ranch & i love what i do. my two dreams are to get married & to perhaps teach someday.
We have created a life we love all together, & our hearts hurt, because with time things change. & we know it's good but it tears our hearts just a little.
But the 15 horses, 2,000 cows, 4 dogs, too many barn cats to count, & many magpies, keep us happy. i love the work i get told to do, & i think the others do to. sometimes i feel guilty saying i have the best life. Because i know that it's not all roses for my daddy. He must think the lifestyle is worth it. The rest of us sure think it is.
Mom & dad got married on May 29, 1988, & moved to a farm 2 miles out of pincher creek. They started thier new life as newlyweds with cattle & a dairy, wich they were in the process of selling. The dairy sold in 94 & cattle ranching was thier maine focus. The challenges were hard, life didn't come easy. But they pushed for thier goals, and conquered.
